


the heart grows fonder

by MTBlack



Series: Flufftober 2020 [1]
Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: F/M, Flufftober
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-06
Updated: 2020-10-06
Packaged: 2021-03-08 08:21:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,939
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26848855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MTBlack/pseuds/MTBlack
Summary: He stayed. She left. As it happened with these things, they lost track of each other. Of course, his friends didn’t. The thing with crushes, Daichi decided or remembered as his voice sounded a lot like his best friend, was that they always found a way to come back.DaiYui reunion after college years.Prompt: 5. Sparkle from Flufftober
Relationships: Azumane Asahi & Sawamura Daichi & Sugawara Koushi, Michimiya Yui & Sugawara Koushi, Michimiya Yui/Sawamura Daichi
Series: Flufftober 2020 [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1958542
Comments: 6
Kudos: 21





	the heart grows fonder

**Author's Note:**

> The prompt is Sparkle but you blink and you miss it. This is the my first entry ever for Flufftober and for a pairing I couldn't find enough content and which has made me go crazy in love with it in less than a week. I feel like I am still not sure about them and their voices in general so any comment or feedback is much appreciated!

The first thing Daichi noticed as he approached the loud table at the end of the bar was the familiar face next to Asahi and in front of the birthday boy. Her long brown hair threw him momentarily off but as she turned to him and took him in, there was no mistake. Michimiya Yui was waving at him enthusiastically as if little or no time had passed. 

The whole table erupted in welcome greetings, familiar faces such as Asahi back from Tokyo, Shimizu, his former Coach Ukkai and Tanaka and Nishinoya and some newer ones, probably from Sugawara’s work, a total count of twelve people were now looking at him. 

The second thing he noticed as he waved stupidly back was how little attention he paid to the rest of them almost forgetting his reason to be there in the first place. Daichi felt drawn to her in the same way he had been during their school years. As if she hold more than the answers of simple questions, if only for the simple fact of being the only other person with the same position in the school. 

The thing with crushes, Daichi decided or remembered as his voice sounded a lot like his best friend, was that they always found a way to come back. For good or bad, he thought looking at Michimiya’s hand on Asahi’s arm, squeezing it affectionately as she laughed at something he’d said.

“Daichi!” Suga’s actual voice interrupted his train of thought appearing suddenly in his line of vision.

“Happy birthday, my friend!” He greeted back patting him on the shoulder with enthusiasm as they briefly hugged.

“I’m glad you could make it,” his friend said, “and right on time. Let’s go get you a drink,” Suga looked around and started taking refill orders before pushing him towards the bar at the other end of the place.

As it was clear they couldn’t carry them all back, he asked for help and Michimiya, unsurprisingly, but promptly volunteered. 

Daichi turned as soon as he heard his voice, and tried not to but failed spectacularly in not staring at her getting up from the table and walking round to meet the two of them. She wasn’t any taller than he remembered but she seemed somewhat different: as if she had grown within herself and her clothes. 

The second Michimiya reached them, she threw her arms around his waist and hugged him tightly even though briefly. “It’s been a while, Sawamura,” she beamed at him looking up from his chest.

He was thrown back to their Graduation day, the last time they had seen each other and one of the rare occasions where they had shared a hug. At that time, she had apologized profusely and blamed it on the impending separation and the uncertainty of the future and she went on and on until he had impromptu admitted he would take a hug over her strong punches almost every time. 

They had laughed and left it at that. Michimiya was a kind and friendly girl; and he honestly did not think she was any more friendly with him than with any other person. Days after when the quiet of the summer had settled in and in the solitude of his room, Daichi thought of how he would miss the girl whom he had shared something he had shared with almost no one else. 

At some point during that final summer he had considered the possibility of asking her out, but with so little free time on both sides and some uncertainty on his feelings and utter on hers, he had let the idea die. Or so he had thought. At the back of his mind, he considered if maybe it had just been dormant. 

Daichi knew it did no well to dwell on wandering thoughts and regrets. 

“It has,” he admitted as she took a step away, as much as the crowd near the bar allowed. 

The place Suga had picked for his birthday was the popular option for people their age in town, so it was clearly packed and there was quite a line for drinks.

He wasn't that tall but since she wasn't using heels, she still had to look up to him. “I thought you were still in Tokyo,” he forced his voice to be heard over the loud music, leaning slightly into her. He felt Suga pushing him slightly into her but when he turned his friend was looking at the price board over the bar. 

“I was! Until a few days ago,” she said as they moved two places closer to the bar. “Asahi told me he was coming early for Sugawara’s birthday and I just changed my ticket to be here on time.”

“Michimiya is thinking of settling back here,” Suga supplied looking pointedly between the two, and raising his eyebrows at Daichi. 

It surprised him a little that Michimiya would leave Asahi in Tokyo as he was certain they were or were about to be an item. It didn’t surprise him at all that Sugawara would know things about her. He was much better than Daichi at keeping in touch with their former classmates and he had gone to Tokyo several times to visit Asahi - with his line of work, Daichi had had to skip a few of those. Another thing that didn’t surprise him was that Sugawara seemed he would neve forget Daichi confessing a possible crush on Michimiya more than 10 years ago. 

He decided to ignore his friend and focused on the girl in front of him instead. After all, it was the polite thing to do. 

“Really?”

“I have an interview in two days for a position at the hospital downtown,” she answered and seemed to vibrate in her place. "The pay is great, much better than at my current job which says a lot and the job in general is going to be much more challenging. I'm supposed to be in charge of a whole team."

“Oh, you’re a doctor,” he said; he had been wracking his brains trying to remember if she had ever mentioned her career choice but she had been so indecisive at the time.

“A kinesiologist actually.”

“I’m sure you’re going to do great, you're going to be a sort of captain; you're experienced with that” he smiled at her, confident in his words. It had taken less than five minutes to realize that she still exuded the same enthusiasm and determination as before. 

Michimiya smiled slightly and seemed to blush but it may have been the heat of the people around them. 

“You still do that, I see,” she said softly. “You just have faith in everyone. In spite of everything...” she trailed off but unlike when they were teens she didn't look down. 

“Not just in everyone” he raised his hands, but continued to look at her intently. Had she always had freckles over her nose? And what about the tiny speck under her right eye, had it always been there? “Just in people I know they’re good. You may have lacked a bit of confidence then and authority but you learnt from your mistakes, I am sure you have grown from that and will take the best of every experience into this new one”. 

She seemed to want to say something and saw her struggling for words that but Sugawara called them from the bar. They took their drinks back to the table and sat. Everyone moved one place counterclockwise leaving MIchimiya and Daichi next to Sugawara. 

He would be lying if he said he wasn’t happy to have her close. She seemed calmer, not the same ball of tight energy and friskiness that prevented her from being quiet and in the same place for too long. Her clothes were smarter and she wore jewelry now even though subtle: a pair of silver earrings, a thin chain around her neck and a bracelet with no charms along with a delicate watch. 

She did still talk a thousand words per minute. In a matter of an hour, Daichi learnt about her training and her recent internship with a professional female Hockey team and how that experience had made her decide to specialize in child injuries and rehabilitation. In her own words, as stressful but twice as rewarding as travelling around with a team of pro athletes. 

Talking with Michimiya had always been volleyball related, or school related if there were exams on the horizon threatening them. However, the very few times they had discussed any other things, and other things did manage to sneak into their conversations, deeper things like the future or climate change, he had enjoyed it. She proved herself to be someone with a good head on her shoulders, always curious and inquisitive, not to be fooled by her restless nature. And he now realized how he had taken those conversations for granted. 

The fourth realization of the night was that she was not the same girl he had met and been around all those years ago. But she still radiated a warm energy that drew him in. At some point, most likely in his early twenties as most of his relationships drifted or distanced, he realized how much of an effort you make sometimes to keep them and how you may care, or not, to do that. 

Daichi was now aware that he had missed her. He had missed the way they make each other strive for improvement, pushing one another to be better. And as she used to remember his words very well, he did treasure a few of their conversations as well. 

She drew him back to the present in as she playfully argued with Asahi when he made her pick a beer instead of what he called “girly pink drink”. As his friend walked away and Daichi felt his stomach churned, Michimiya explained excitedly how she and Asahi had connected in the past year after he started dating his friend Mao, the one who always seemed to dislike whenever Daichi was around. 

His own sigh of relief took him by surprise as he listened to her. "Oh," he said out loud looking at the retreating back of his friend and the lady in front of him. He had seen them so close when he first walked in. Michimiya almost leaned on Asahi’s side, invading his personal space, and Daichi had immediately assumed it was his friend's presence that linked her there. 

She looked at him quizzically and began firing a million questions without breathing.

“Slow down, please,” Daichi laughed as she took a big gulp of her beer. She looked at him expectantly and he immersed in a retelling of his life for the past ten years. 

Suga jumped in whenever he felt he was not being fair with himself. “He’s truly the youngest officer to have been promoted in fifty years in the district” or when he was bragging too much. “The other team was a bunch of retired citizens who were closer to the grave than to a court” and “I had food poisoning trying out his cheesecake recipe three or was it four times? Until he admitted he didn’t know how to tell if the strawberries were ripe.”

People began to drift away slowly while Daichi and Michimiya continued in their own bubble of conversation. When they were almost the only ones left aside from Sugawara who was pointedly yawning at his right and Asahi more intent on his phone than on his surrounding, she excused herself and went to the ladies’ room with Shimizu. 

It was then that his friends decided to circle on him mischievously - he was under the impression only Sugawara would know of his reborn infatuation but it was Asahi who spoke first. 

“So, what do you plan to do with this whole...” The former star paused, waving his hand between Daichi and the place where Michimiya had sat and he currently occupied. “Situation?” He finalized blinking and wiggling his eyebrows at him. 

“What?”

“Honestly, Daichi,“ Suga began from the other side. “If you don’t ask her out or at the very least take her home, I would never speak to you again.”

“What? I--”

“She’s a very lively and nice person, but she just seemed to shine when you walked in,” Asahi observed nonchalantly.

And before Daichi could gape again, Suga went on. 

“Even Ukkai-san asked me if you two were an old flame or something because the tension was unbearable,” Daichi felt his ears on fire but his friend wasn’t deterred. “I don’t know if you notice you two didn’t speak to anyone else the whole night. There were stars sharing these tables and I’m not talking about supernovas here like our friend” Asahi meant to take exception but Suga wouldn’t allow him. “Actual real, celebrity status, playing in the National team stars.”

Daichi hung his head in defeat and scratched the back of his neck but before he acknowledged out loud anything of what was going on with him inside, Asahi disappeared from his side and Michimiya’s voice drew their whole attention.

“Thanks for inviting me, Sugawara. It was nice seeing you all and the whole lot of you, guys,” she smiled warmly at the three of them and Shimizu but after the brief conversation, Daichi allowed himself to wonder if she looked at him for a second too long before looking back to his best friend. 

“It’s nothing,” he was saying as he got up, making Daichi get up himself in the process. “I really hope you get the job and we get to meet more often.”

Asahi yawned unceremoniously and Daichi had to step into Michimiya’s personal space to avoid a fist to the nose. He turned sharply to his friend who limited himself to discuss with Shimizu whether they should call an Uber or walk and take a cab. 

“Do you need a ride home?” He asked and had a smile as wide as hers when she nodded.

“I’d very much like that,” her eyes sparkled and this time, Daichi was almost certain little had to do with the alcohol. 

As they walked to the car, she grew strangely quiet. 

“So, to your parent’s house?”

“They don’t know I’m here still, I thought of avoiding him for a few days, they don’t like the idea of me coming back that much,” she admitted with a grimace but before he could think of a reply she changed that for a smile. “I’m staying at a hotel uptown, close to the Hospital.”

“It’s actually really close to my apartment,” he pointed out once she had told him the address. The car started with a low rumble and the radio was on doing a pathetic attempt of filling the charged silence that was brewing between the two. Before he could ask if anything was wrong though, she burst into laughter. 

“Michimiya?” Daichi looked at her from the corner of his, unable to keep himself from smiling as well as her infectious laugh reverberated in the car. 

“I can’t believe this is actually happening,” she said in between chuckles after a few seconds. “You taking me home, even though it is not technically my home, is something my sixteen-year old self would have died, if not killed, for.”

Blood rushed to his ears for a beat or two as her words sank in. 

“Come again?” He asked like an idiot, looking between her and the almost empty road ahead.

“And very much like at 16,” Michimiya went on, smiling and looking ahead as well, as if avoiding his eyes or just gathering up courage. “I don’t know what to do or say, or even think about it,” she sounded defeated but there was still some laughter in her voice laced with incredulity. “I very much feel like sixteen again, but not really. I am very much aware we are not sixteen anymore.”

The implications behind those words didn’t go unnoticed because for the first time in perhaps forever, Daichi thought they were talking in the same frequency. He laughed loudly as he realized he was feeling the exact same way. 

Thankfully the trip was short and they were still laughing when he stopped the car in front of the hotel. A lonely receptionist at a marble counter looked at them with a bored expression from behind the glass. The guy went back to his phone after only a few seconds. 

Daichi turned to her and found the intent stare of Michimiya studying him. They both seemed to be holding their breaths now. 

“I really think you are going to get that job,” he said trying not to distract himself counting the freckles in her nose that appeared and disappeared under the random passing cars lights. “And I really wish you took it and stayed here.”

“Why?” She breathed out, almost demanding. So different from his memories or perhaps it was simply because they never had a conversation like this one. 

He paused, briefly. He could think of at least three reasons, because you make me feel and want to be a better person, because when you are around everything seems nicer, because you are the nicest and prettiest girl I have ever met. But Daichi was a man of simpler words and simpler reasons, “Because I’d love if you would like to go out with me.” 

Michimiya grinned at him, the widest of smiles. And he thought of another reason: he would like to know if she would smile while kissing. 

It turned out she did. And so did he. 

**Author's Note:**

> I will definitely come back and edit this but want to hear what you think!


End file.
